Members of CPT-Hebron responded to the demolitions of two
homes in the Hebron District today, one in the Beqa'a Valley, and the other
north of Beit Ummer.

At 9:30 a.m. on February 4, CPT received a call from the Beqa'a Valley
directly east of Hebron city. The voice on the other end said, "There are
bulldozers in the Beqa'a Valley at Fayez Jabber's house." Members of the team
left immediately for Fayez's house. It was already demolished by the time
they got there.

Fayez Jaber had worked since he was twelve to save money to build his home.
He and his wife Huda had furnished it modestly with mattresses, cushions, and
blankets. The couple has no children

When CPTers Art Gish, Bob Holmes, Jake Kaufman, Doug Pritchard and Dianne Roe
arrived, they saw a group of mourning women sitting in front of the rubble.
The collapsed cement roof was still intact and served as a kind of terrace as
neighbors and visitors gathered.

In the course of the day Fayez' cousin, Atta Jabber, (whose home has been
demolished twice in the last six months) translated as he explained recent
events in the Beqa'a.

"This makes ten Jabber family demolitions," said Atta as he pointed out other
piles of rubble dotting the hillsides around the valley. One in the
immediate vicinity had belonged to Fayez' brother Abdel Wahab.

Atta took the visitors just a few meters further up the hill from the house,
to where the nearby settlements of Givat Harsina and Kiryat Arba were visible.
A cave house in the side of the hill had been the home of Fayez' grandmother,
and served as a shelter to Fayez' brother after his house was demolished in
1982.

In the other direction, looking out from the rooftop, bypass road #60 curved
through the valley. Atta pointed out the tent on the other side of the road
where his family was forced to live in the months following the demolition.
"You know this has been our land for many, many years. We have all of the
deeds. We can never leave."

Huda was sobbing softly as she sat between her mother and Fayez' mother.
Fayez' mother said as she walked toward her house, "We are thankful that no
one was hurt. People can't be replaced. Houses can. Fayez will rebuild his
house."

Two CPTers also responded to a house demolition near Beit Ummer, a village
north of Hebron. The family of Leyla Sabarneh, her husband and four children
had received a stop work order two months ago but continued to build. The
house, under construction for only four months, is in the area where a bypass
road around Al-Aroub refugee camp is planned.

Both houses had stop work orders because the families had not been able to
obtain building permits. Permits are almost impossible for Palestinians to
get in the 70% of the West Bank that is still under full Israeli military
occupation (Area C).